


Small, but Knowing

by sinchun



Series: NCT Life in a Pack [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Chenle is a little shit and i love him, Gen, Pack Dynamics, Polyamorous Pack, by which i mean i am whipped for doyoung and think everyone else should be too, everyone is whipped for doyoung, it's Chenle's POV and we're all just living in it, mentioned nomin, minor dowin, minor yujae, one-sided? dotae, passing references to underaged handjobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:54:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28021260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinchun/pseuds/sinchun
Summary: Chenle isn’t stupid. The older members like to think of him and Jisung as babies, but Chenle knows a lot more than they give him credit for. He observes the rest of the pack.
Series: NCT Life in a Pack [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043016
Kudos: 113





	Small, but Knowing

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in 2017, between the events of [Lead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27899764/chapters/68319259) and [Amaryllis and Yarrow.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27978900) As always, you don’t need to have read the other stories in the series to follow this one, but they do add more context.

Chenle isn’t stupid.

The older members like to think of him and Jisung as babies, but Chenle knows a lot more than they give him credit for. Like, he knows that after that one memorable Sunday afternoon when Johnny sat the dreamies down as a group in a well-intentioned but oh so awkward attempt to give them the sex talk, that Johnny went to Taeyong to tattle that he’s pretty sure that Jeno and Jaemin might already be already sleeping together.

Which, like, at least he didn’t go to _Doyoung_ about that. Chenle’s pretty sure Doyoung would’ve flipped his shit if he knew that his precious little Jeno was sexually active even though he hasn’t presented yet.

Chenle also knows that Taeyong is convinced that Jaemin is going to be an omega. Because he’s soft and nurturing, or so the lead alpha’s logic goes. _Isn’t that just old-fashioned stereotyping?_ wonders Chenle. Then he sees the way Taeyong acquiesces to Doyoung’s every want and need, and he realizes that maybe it’s just that some of Jaemin’s personality quirks remind Taeyong of Doyoung, who he sees as the ideal omega.

Doyoung just kind of has that effect on the members of their pack. Ever since he joined earlier in the year, basically everyone has been enamored with him. _Perks of being the only omega in the pack,_ Chenle supposes.

Taeil and Winwin sweep through the dorms ahead of Doyoung’s heat to collect articles of clothing from everyone. “Taeyong says having a nest that smells like the pack can be soothing for an omega,” explains Taeil with a shrug. “Or so he’s read.”

No one in the Dream dorm even has a distinctive scent yet because they’re all still pups, but still everyone obediently goes to their respective laundry hampers to fetch something for Doyoung’s nest. “Do you think Doyoung-hyung would prefer a tee-shirt or a sweater?” Jisung asks Chenle, his brow creasing thoughtfully.

“Give him a pair of your boxers,” Chenle suggests, wagging his eyebrows, then laughs when it makes Jisung squawk. “Ok, but seriously, do you think Taeyong thought about it?”

Jisung blushes and refuses to meet his teasing gaze as he asks, “Thought about what?”

“About giving Doyoung a pair of his boxers for his nesting,” Chenle explains like it’s obvious. It’s obvious to him. All of the alphas and betas are fond of Doyoung, but Taeyong’s attachment reminds Chenle strongly of the way Jeno used to follow Jaemin around, like a lost puppy dog, before the two of them became kissing friends.

“I’m begging you to stop being weird,” Jisung tells Chenle. He selects a light blue shirt and holds it up for Chenle’s stamp of approval. From his own clothes, Chenle grabs a hoodie he wore the week before, then brings both his and Jisung’s offerings to Winwin.

In the end, it seems like Yuta and Jaehyun are the only ones who get out of pitching in something for Doyoung’s nest, which Chenle guesses makes sense, since the two of them are claiming each other.

 _Why couldn’t Johnny have given us a lecture on something useful, like the social nuances of claiming bites?_ wonders Chenle with an annoyed sigh. Because he’s pretty certain that Jeno and Jaemin are going to wind up giving each other claiming bites the moment they present, intentionally or otherwise. They’re just always all over each other, and it’s not even subtle.

Honestly, Chenle thinks it must be willful ignorance on Doyoung’s part to not be aware of the fact that Jeno isn’t exactly a blushing virgin anymore. He and Jaemin haven’t fully done the nasty—Chenle doesn’t think that even they would be so bold as to break the social taboo of popping your cherry before you know whether you’re an alpha, beta, or omega—but they’ve definitely gotten handsy with in each other in a way that Doyoung probably wouldn’t approve of.

 _Because he’s an uptight prude,_ thinks Chenle. _Well, maybe not a prude exactly, but…_

When Doyoung goes into heat, the first one he’s had since joining the pack, everyone holds their breath to see who he asks for. Taeyong and Johnny stress-bake cookies, while Winwin and Taeil pace anxiously around the 127 living room. Even Jaehyun and Yuta seem on edge.

But Doyoung doesn’t call for anyone.

On the second day, Yuta escapes to the Dream dorm. “The whole apartment smells like his heat,” he complains to anyone who will listen. “And he won’t even ask for anyone to help him through it. Why must he be so stubborn?”

Chenle isn’t sure why Yuta think it’s stubbornness. Maybe it’s something he’ll only understand after he presents. Or maybe Yuta knows something about Doyoung that he doesn’t. And Chenle _hates_ not knowing things.

Jaehyun follows soon after. He curls up on the couch next to Yuta. Everything about his posture looks unhappy. Yuta wraps a comforting arm around him, but the beta just whimpers and folds in on himself.

 _I guess the instinct to go to an omega in heat doesn’t disappear just because you’re claimed by someone else,_ Chenle realizes. He’s fascinated by it all.

The third day brings Taeyong to them. His eyes are tight but his body language relieved. “Winwin is helping him,” he lets them know, sounding weary.

“He asked for Winwin?” asks Jaehyun in surprise.

Taeyong shakes his head. “Nope. Winwin just took it upon himself to venture into Doyoung’s room because he couldn’t stand smelling his distress anymore.”

 _Bold choice,_ thinks Chenle, impressed. Then again, who could ever get mad at Winwin?

After another two days, the dreamies are allowed back into the 127 dorm, which Taeyong had banned them from during Doyoung’s heat under the guise of being worried that the omega’s strong pheromones might trigger one of them to present. _Yeah, right._ Chenle’s pretty sure that the pack leader just didn’t want any of them to be able to hear any sex noises.

Because Doyoung looks extremely well-fucked. Chenle doesn’t mean to stare, really he doesn’t, but how can he not when Doyoung has a dark hickey high on his neck, just under the ear, and an incredibly satisfied smile on his face. From the wide-eyed expressions on the other dreamies’ faces, it would appear that Chenle isn’t the only one taken aback by the sight.

Then Jeno grins and steps forward to give Doyoung a big hug. “Nice to have you back, hyung,” he says, as though Doyoung had been missing in action for the duration of his heat. Which, Chenle supposes, he might as well have been.

“I hope you kids didn’t give Taeyong too much trouble in the meanwhile,” says Doyoung, playfully stern.

Chenle laughs, assures Doyoung that he would _never_ give Taeyong-hyung trouble, and is immediately elbowed by Renjun for the lie.

“Don’t hit your brother,” admonishes a soft voice in Mandarin. Chenle turns to see Winwin emerging from his room. His hair is messy and his cheeks flushed, and Chenle swallows the urge to tease him for his appearance.

 _There’s nothing embarrassing or shameful about being with another pack member for their rut or heat,_ Chenle reminds himself. All the older members do it. _Everyone helps each other other out._ When he presents, he will too.

He watches Doyoung press a kiss to the side of Winwin’s head—soft and sweet, like lovers, which Chenle supposes that they are. In a way, the whole pack is. Aren’t they? It’s too early in the morning for philosophical pondering, so Chenle contents himself with observing the rest of the group.

Johnny is making pancakes, with Renjun and Mark hovering on either side, while Taeil shows Jisung some viral video on his phone. Yuta and Jaehyun are cuddled up together on the couch in the living room, and Haechan, Jeno, and Jaemin pester Taeyong for permission to run to the grocery store to buy whipped cream for breakfast. Whatever tension that had bubbled up during Doyoung’s heat has subsided.

The pack takes care of each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Between this and [In Bloom](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27944945), have I committed to writing Doyoung as a sucker for getting hickeys? Evidently yes.
> 
> The longer story that deals with what’s going on with yujae is coming soon—the first chapter should be up next. Also planned: a fic about when Jeno and Jaemin present.


End file.
